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Decommissioned Aquaculture Sites: Ocean floor clean-up
When an aquaculture site is decommissioned, it is a requirement that they engage with a contractor to provide underwater clean-up services at the site. Our team has been heavily involved in multiple projects of this kind, and we are one of the most experienced underwater clean-up crews on the coast.
In addition, we are committed to working with First Nations in whose territory we are operating, which often means that First Nation guardians or observers become a part of our team on these projects.
Clean-up jobs begin with a detailed plan that outlines crew size, equipment needed, conditions both underwater and above water of the site, client expectations and data collection. Some of these variables won’t be known until after we conduct a preliminary survey.
Factors such as site depth play a major role in these projects – many aquaculture sites are located in waters that are too deep to be safe for our divers. This is when our ROV fleet becomes indispensable.
The purpose of the preliminary survey is to first gauge how many items need to be recovered from the ocean floor and second, what those items are. Heavy weight blocks are more challenging to recover back to the surface than netting or lighter debris – conducting a preliminary survey allows us to let the client know exactly how long the clean-up will take, how many items we expect to recover, and whether we may need additional supports, such as a crane barge, throughout the operation.
Underwater clean-ups are usually a multi-week or multi-month project, and can utilize more than one vessel and ROV unit at a time. We are proud of our ability to execute these jobs in a timely fashion, helping to restore ocean environments to their natural state.